Blog

  • I think I know why Dulce is alerting more to others. #T2DOC #dad #servicedog

    Yes, Dulce has started alerting on other people, and didn't used to. 

    When she worked in my classroom she wasn't supposed to interact with the students and the staff was included, mostly to set the example.  

    She learned to back away and avoid people.  Since I stopped teaching face to face, I am letting her interact. 

  • Agility Brags and Whines

    First, Macy did two nice runs, FAST and Standard.  I'm glad she came.  

    Second, I handle Dulce's issues very well.  I praised her throughout the course, only when she just did one obstacle.

    Whine:  I am so tired and hurt so bad.  And came back to the AirBNB with almost two hours of work.  It sucks that I do agility worse than I did 70 pounds ago.  I still handle very well, evidence: Macy got almost all the obstacles (she missed the very last one, had to pee).

    I am not doing as many runs tomorrow and coming back to the AirBNB to change for the meeting and Top 20.

  • Ocala, Florida – I have arrived

    I am absolutely loving this AirBNB.  One room, on a horse farm — stables are outside.  Fenced in yard.  Beagles seem to be loving it too.

    Driving 9 hours yesterday was for the birds.  I'm trying to find some place to stay about half way from here to Brandon, Mississippi, thinking Pensacola or Tallahassee.  We should be done around noon, maybe a bit later.

    I have everything I need, perhaps overpacked.  We'll see.

    Though one though I have had is to stay a while in Brandon, Mississippi.  Ends up on how the dogs work there.  

    This place is great, I can send the dogs out to the yard and relax.  Right now, one at a time because they can be a tad noisy together.

    I used my sleep music, both her and at my sister's and feel like I got a good nights sleep.

  • Another Insulin Screw up

    I swear I screw up insulin more often than anything and yes, did it again. 

    Good news, I have enough to last the trip. 

    Here what I did this time.  I put a vial in my Mac bag and a vial and pen in my PC bag. Then when it was time to go, I pulled out the vial and then left it on my desk.  Argh!

    i realized what I did early this evening and whew! Still have the PC vial and pen.  

    So here are my insulin screw ups. 

    1. Last week carried insulin for two days with nothing in the luggage to get it out of the vial. 
    2. Last trip, left Insulin vial on kitchen counter. Felt the need to come home fast. Though also mom was driving Dulce and I nuts over her white furniture 
    3. Dropped insulin at TSA checkpoint shattering two vials  
    4. left insulin behind and remembered before got to the airport and had to go home to get it. 

    So so I am good and even have backup insulin. 

  • #T2DOC #DAD #ServiceDogs Dulce alerting on other people bothers me

    But it shouldn't, it should be part of my proof of concept.

    I really like the idea of diabetes alert dogs.  I know that there are a ton of people who don't do a good job at producing one.  They also put small children with really big dogs.  That doesn't seem like it would work well.

    So I don't know why it bothers me when Dulce alerts on other people — she did alert on Mike at #DiabetesLinkup.  Part of it has to do with the fact my husband's dog didn't like me, when we got married.  Beagles are really one person dogs.

    But she has alert on other people through out the years, and its always been fairly positive. 

    She's a good dog, though sometimes I think we're reading each others minds.

  • Packing

    I started packing yesterday.  Mostly the dogs and double checking the medical equipment supply in the truck.  Also did a Walgreen's run.

    This morning I've been pulling out everything I don't need tonight.  Plan is to leave tomorrow after work, maybe after a cardio workout.    I'll be playing Tetris with the truck today trying to get everything to fit.

    I'm hoping to be gone for almost 2 weeks.  I have to be back by November 23 because of medications, etc.

    This will be the longest trip I've taken since the National Specialty last year.  I'm staying with family on the way there, and stop and visit with the family on the way back.  I did it the other way around last year and then drove all the way home from St. Louis without stopping.

    I do have about two weeks of Jenny Craig "shelf" food in the truck and there is a Jenny Craig in Ocala.

  • Weight lost victories, of the Scale and Non Scale Variety

    First, I went to Baylor College of Dentistry yesterday and saw my Periodontist Graduate Student.  She really rocks and is going to be a good doctor.

    She was really pleased at my A1C results and called me a "controlled diabetic" in her notes.  Since her treatment my tooth numbers have gone down, but I still have two area that concern her.  Because I'm controlled, she said she has a lot more options, and she is going to do a procedure on December 2, that should help.  A crown came off two weeks ago, and my fourth year came up with a treatment plan for it, but it is in the area that we will also be treating.  I also learned the hard way, that I'm entitled to at least two more years of care from the college, even if they do get everything resolved.  All but the crowns should be covered by insurance.

    Second, Jenny Craig measured me Sunday and that explained one of my mysteries – how could I lose so much weight and still be able to wear my jeans.  Oh, I've lost inches everywhere BUT my wasit.  They do fit funny, but they stay on.

    I'm also in my fourth scale decade since joining Jenny Craig, being in the 270's, 260's, 250's, and now firmly in the 240's.   Though I've been maintaining weight the last three week, I started losing weight again this week.

  • Changing Standard of Care by Physicians – Idea I mentioned at #DiabetesLinkup #T2DOC

    One of the ideas I came up with at #DiabetesLinkup was to change the current standard of care by physicians (okay, I didn't write it that stiffly, but the same idea).

    Now I doubt I came up with this out of the blue, out of the whole buzz of the #DOC and the online medical community itself, I've been concerned about one case of pediatric death from diabetes, and I've supported this: 

    http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/legislating-change-undiagnosed-diabetes

    But one small change could change the face of diabetes.

    Here's what I mean.

    Currently when we go to a doctor's office, they get our weight and our blood pressure.  Why not add blood sugar?  And in fact, I know an optometrist that actually does do the blood sugar test, since blurry vision is a symptom of  diabetes.  Now that I am diagnosed, they ask for my A1C.

    Here's the deal, for the most part, blood pressure is tracked on a regular basis.  We are not life style shamed if our blood pressure is high (though they might mention the link to sodium intake), and there is no blaming the patient if a blood pressure drug doesn't work.

    If tracking blood sugar (along with how long has it been since the patient has eaten), maybe the stigma can be taken away from diabetes?

    It might also start catching some of the lack of diagnosis and misdiagnosis. 

    One other really important thing — while diabetes is often considered a life style disease, is it really?  Could I pick my parents and can I change how they raised me?

    By adding body shaming or life style shaming, we make it much harder to change.

  • Traveling with Dulce, a diabetes alert dog #t2doc #DiabetesLinkup

    It is always interesting going out in public with a dog, -especially a cute beagle. Even more so when you are out of your comfort zone.  

    Many of the #DiabetesLinkup people had lots of questions about her. One was even telling me about another dog and was wondering if the day would be hard on her with so many diabetics in the room. 

    And yes, she ended up alerting on him. He had forgotten his mealtime insulin. 

    I admitted then and will now, that always bothers me because I did train her and I do get a bit jealous. It doesn't help that people, especially my mother, seem to think I should give her up for someone who needs her more.  

    With my lower A1C and the change in activity level, I did need her and she alerted twice on the trip.  She caught two lows which allowed me to shift when and what I ate.

    We did have one issue with American Airlines which I did report   An overzealous agent demanded her paperwork which I was not supposed to need.  I did have it on the phone so we were all good.

     

     

     

  • The power of #t2doc – There are others like me @not_defeated

    I sat next to Dr. P on Friday at #DiabetesLinkup and discovered we have a lot in common.

    First, we have the same external keyboard and we are both educators.  However, the biggest similarity is that we both got an out of the blue diabetes diagnosis.  No pre-diabetes for us.  

    This is a point of the whole effort to strengthen and make more active the Type 2 Diabetes Online Network.  If it is big enough, patients will be able to find other patients with the same issues.